Mascara is used frequently in the area of cosmetics for thickening and adding length to eyelashes. The mascara material has a tendency to gather eyelash hairs together in discrete groups, giving the appearance of very heavy and separate eyelash hairs. This is undesirable and eyelash combs have been developed to separate the hairs to give a more natural look without removing the mascara.
The typical eyelash comb includes a number of rigid comb teeth set in a base along a straight line that is parallel to the comb handle. The existing forms of eyelash combs are thus similar to regular hair combs, only much smaller in proportion.
The human eye is a very sensitive organ and natural instinct does not allow foreign objects to get into close proximity without a blinking reflex, in which the eyeball is protectively covered by the eyelid. An eyelash comb, being straight and including rigid, menacing teeth, rightly initiates the blink reflex. Users must at least initially overcome the reflex to blink, in order to effectively use the comb. However, even with such training, the typical straight comb is not a completely effective tool, since the eyelash hairs are distributed over the lower edge of the eyelid and naturally follow the curve of the eyeball. Thus even if the comb is used effectively, only a few of the eyelash hairs may be combed in a single stroke.
Even if the blink reflex is temporarily overcome, the comb can be used only to comb just those hairs engaged between the straight line of comb teeth. The combing process is thus not satisfactory, or the user must repeatedly try to reposition the comb to treat different areas of the eyelash before the process becomes satisfactory.
Another difficulty with conventional eyelash combs is the safety factor. The blink reflex, as noted above may be conditioned to allow close positioning of the comb. However, the geometry of straight line of comb teeth opposed to the curvature of the eyelash requires that few of the comb teeth be positioned close to the eye. Extreme care in judgement must be taken to avoid touching the eyelash comb teeth to the eyeball. This is a very difficult task and the straight line of comb teeth do not assist the user in safely positioning the comb. To the contrary, the straight line of comb teeth increase the difficulty. The user knows that only part of the comb teeth will be effective in engaging the eyelash hairs and will therefor tend to risk positioning the comb too close to the eyeball in order to do an effective job. The comb must also be used repeatedly at different angles to catch all the eyelash hairs. This further increases the risk of injury.
The present invention offers a solution to the above problems by provision of an eyelash comb that includes a curved set of eyelash combing teeth, set at a curvature approximating that of the human eyeball. Further the present comb includes safety features that will assist the user in safely and comfortably using the comb.
Thus, a first object of the present invention is to provide an eyelash comb that will effectively comb many if not all the eyelash hairs in a single stroke. Another object is to provide such a comb with a curved set of comb teeth that will enable safe positioning of the comb when in use.
A still further objective is to provide such a comb with a handle that is centered and substantially parallel to the eyelash comb teeth to enable accurate positioning of the comb teeth when in use.
The above and still further objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description which, taken along with the accompanying drawings and claims, disclose a preferred form of the present invention.